A file system in a computer system is used for managing data stored in a storage device. Typically, the data is organized into many data files and each data file is stored in a particular directory of the file system. Different data files in the file system usually operate on their own such that the addition or removal of one data file in the file system has little, if any, impact on the other data files. Compared with a file system, a database system also deals with a collection of data. But the data in the database system is often organized into many inter-related data records within one or more data structures (e.g., tables). In response to a query, the database system identifies within different tables a set of data records that satisfy the query and return the set of records or a derivative thereof as a response to the query. Similarly, the deletion of a data record from one table may trigger the deletion of a data record from another table. Currently, the line separating the file system from the database system is becoming increasingly blurry because data records in the database system often include references or pointers to different data files in the file system. As a result, an update to the database system may cause an update to the file system.